Whistles While You Walk

"You know how to whistle don't you? Just put your lips together... and blow"

Today I thought I'd discuss a very simple, but very easy to overlook piece of kit that can potentially save your life... a whistle. Yeah, I'm talking about the little piece of moulded plastic or stamped or machined metal that when air is forcefully blown through it produces a disproportionately loud shrieking sound. By "forceful", I merely mean directed as one of the advantages of using a whistle is that it produces a lot of sound with minimal effort (like a small weak puff through a whistle can still produce a significant blast that can be heard at a great distance). It is useful for attracting attention in survival emergencies, for sports, for signalling, for self-defense, for directing traffic, etc, etc. A good whistle is one of the first pieces of gear that I would supply young kids with.

Imagine, getting lost in the woods while hiking, or inadvertantly skiing out of bounds (and not being able to get back to the proper side of a mountain as the sun goes down and the temperatures are dropping). Or imagine skidding off the road in your vehicle and crashing, unseen, in a ditch or ravine just off the road, and you find yourself injured and unable to walk out. Or maybe you take a wrong turn down a dark deserted alley in a big city, and suddenly find your way blocked by a group of crackheads who intend to mug you (or worse). Or imagine your boat/kayak flips over and you genuinely need some assistance as the current takes you out to sea, and help is within sight, but being so low in the water, nobody can see you. Or imagine that you are the first on the scene of a medical emergency and you are rendering aid, you call 911, and the police/fire/medics are just down the block but they cannot see where you are, partially obscured by cars and landscaping. I can go on and on with these hypotheticals and variations thereof, but the point is, in all of these situations, merely having a simple whistle on hand would be very useful.

A whistle falls under the category of "signaling devices" to announce an emergency or alert rescue personnel and along with visual panels, flares, smoke, marker panels, water dyes, and strobes are an important part of any survival kit. Most emergency survival situations are assumed to be temporary situations, with the eventual goal of getting rescued. Signaling is a very important part of an emergency survival kit if you ever want to get help. 3 whistle blasts (or 3 firearm shots, 3 flashes, 3 puffs of smoke, any series of 3) is generally accepted as the universal distress signal (even if you don't know International Morse Code). Many people at least know the Morse (CW) for "S. O. S.", which is easy to learn/memorize ". . . - - - . . ." (dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot), or (short short short, loooong loooong loooong, short short short).

Ideally, the whistle should make a slightly shrill, annoying, unpleasant noise so that it tends to capture attention above regular background din or loud crowd noise. A whistle sound that is too soft, harmonic, musical (tonal) and pleasant to the ear can more readily be ignored. Like, although it is a good whistle, I think that the Acme of London "Bobby" style whistle is too pleasant and musical in tone for emergency use. It sounds kind of whimsical to me, like a circus calliope or something. You might remember the sound of it from old Sherlock Holmes or perhaps Jack the Ripper films, with Bobby whistles sounding off in the "fog". I think most wooden whistles have timbres that sound too warm and friendly also, they "tooooot" like low flutes or tiny train whistles. Also, I would like to mention though it is a small consideration that I would always prefer a NON-METAL whistle no matter how good the design, not only because it would be lighterweight and quieter (as far as noise discipline), but also because of the real problem of metal whistles can get extremely cold (below freezing) and can freeze to and injure ones lips in cold climates (unless you pre-"thaw" it, or keep it deep within insulated layers).

After decades of technological stagnation, whistles have suddenly jumped technologically ahead in the past few decades, becoming "pea-less", much easier to blow, double-chambered or triple-chambered, louder and more focused, more ergonomically shaped, and even now able to function underwater!

I guess I happened to be more aware of whistle technology because I was an MP and many of us felt that the standard issue whistle (bulky OD green with a cork pea and OD green lanyard), although adequate, was somewhat of a dinosaur compared to the sleek, super-loud Fox 40 which was just hitting the market in the mid-80s. The Fox 40 and the Mini-Fox 40 is my whistle of choice. The double-chambered Fox 40 deafeningly "shrieks" with half the effort, and some of us started using them (for directing traffic and catching attention at long distance). Luckily they made it in a tactical black colour as well as the blaze safety orange. Also, I found that Fox 40 included two semi-circular "flanges" to the body of the whistle, ostensibly to make it more shaped like a conventional whistle, however, I discovered that they are superfluous decorative adjuncts only. They can be easily snapped off (with pliers) and filed smooth if you wish to make the Fox 40 a bit flatter and less bulky (like on a keychain).

One option that I will mention, mostly because of their durability, are the single piece machined metal whistles that are like very small cylinders, and can conveniently and inconspicuously be carried on a keychain, or zipper pull. They are great because they are cheap (about a buck), very small, nearly indestructible, and for their size, decently loud. Most of them are made of aluminum, and thus feather-weight. There are some custom machined titanium versions out there, but they tend to run into the exorbitant range as far as price (like cost vs. benefit is really dubious IMO). I thought this small keychain whistle is worth mentioning because... remember my favourite survival adage, "what's the best _____?" (in this case the piece of gear is a whistle). Answer: the one that you have on you. I see it all the time with people that buy big, fancy, expensive gear, and guess what? when an emergency happens, it will most likely be sitting in a nice protective case, probably packed away safely at home, where it is doing zilcho good.

There is a popular 5 in 1 mini-survival kit with a compass, matchcase, flint, fishing kit, etc. that has a built in whistle included. Bright orange and relatively inexpensive, it's a good all in one survival device if you invested in nothing else.... lol. I think that I insist that all my family members have one of these, at a minimum, in each of their vehicles.

In the category of overkill and double redundancy, many of my Fast-tek clips (like on my headlamp, my sternum strap, my cell phone case) are the mini-whistle clip versions, which have a very small, but effective "pea-less" whistle.

As part of my early survival kits, with ACR signal mirror, came the flat ACR "hurricane"-type whistle, also called the "Howler" whistle in England. ACR included it for free with the signal mirror or with their signal flare kits. It's like the flat rectangular double chambered whistle, safety orange or black in colour, that is often attached to PFDs as a zipper pull. It too is incredibly loud for it's size and has a wide comfortable mouthpiece so that it is possible to blast a large quantity of air through it with minimal effort.

Probably the smallest, really loud whistle on the market is the Jetscream, which is flat and slightly larger than a housekey. It is nicely designed to be very portable, and it produces a very respectable 122db sound.

Probably the loudest safety whistle at 130db +, and unfortunately probably the LARGEST, is the Wind Storm emergency, made by the All-Weather Safety Whistle Co. It can be heard up to half a mile a way, through obstructions (like helmets and vehicles), and can even be blown and heard underwater, up to 50 feet. The only drawback, I feel, is it's size, because the whistle is, literally, a handfull. It's bulky and oddly shaped like a hand grip with a protruding mouthpiece, and can barely be worn around the neck. Once a whistle gets this big, I start thinking, maybe I will just get a mini air horn, or just carry around a bugle or hunting horn or something... LOL.

Now, Fox 40 has developed a new 110 db Rescue Howler flat whistle with THREE chambers. A triple chambered whistle produces three separate tones simultaneously. So far it comes in a bright yellow colour. They are currently sold in two packs for a nominal $9 or so, retail.

I know. Big deal. A whistle may not be the most exciting or important piece of safety equipment, but it's at least worth the trouble of paying a buck at the local drugstore and attaching to your keychain, just in case. A mere $1 investment in preparation. It's better to have one and not need it than to need it and not have one. It may someday save your life.

My Own Private Alamo

This is a kind of oddball edition to my blog as it is partially a discussion of fact and partially a pure musing, a fantasy. I actually was conflicted about whether to include the second half of this entry as it is somewhat out of character with the informational, educational spirit of this blog. Plus it is somewhat revealing about my psyche also. Nevertheless, I think that it is a thoughtful fantasy, not entirely without practical merit, so I think I am going to publish it for now.



I assess the "threat" priority in my location (SF Bay Area) in the following order: 1) Earthquake 2) Civil Disturbance 3) Critical Resource Disruption (possibly related to Climate Change) 4) Flood 5) Random Predatory Violence (drive-by, home invasion, burglary). Most of these are self-explanatory.

The Critical Resource Disruption above refers to things like the rolling blackouts that we've been experiencing this past decade supposedly due to peak power usage (but after they mysteriously and suddenly ceased after 9/11/10 were actually discovered to be intentional leveraging by greedy power company execs), the emergency water conservation measures we've been asked to take due to low reservoirs and hot drought condition weather, garbage landfills and toxic waste storage that have reached capacity (and looking for other places to export it to), and the high cost of heating gas in cold winter months, and even the record high (as much as $5 in California, also I suspect due to artificial price leveraging by greedy oil company execs) cost of gasoline to run our vehicles and transport goods to our stores, and most alarmingly, to me, reports of actual "food shortages" in the media, which have consequentally driven up prices and created runs on certain commodities. These might seem like paranoid imaginings.... but they are actually happening, here and now, and I take them to be the earliest signs of a population that is reaching it's peak manageable level for the available resources.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this because of how eccentric and paranoid it sounds, but I actually live, most of the time, in a sort of bunker, or a panic room as they are popularly called. Let me explain. Basically, I have converted one half of my bedroom into a survival redoubt where I store much of my food, water, supplies, ammo, and gear. I needed a place to store all my gear (from multiple sports and activities) anyway, and much of it was too expensive to just leave out in the garage. So I went to one of those "surplus" outlets, the kind that sell old office furniture and retail/wholesale shelving, and bought a bunch of solid steel shelving units (for $10 each!) and lined the walls of my bedroom with them, bolted them down, and bolted them together to form a solid frame and earthquake resistant "box". And I simply changed the flimsy (interior) door with a solid one with a deadbolt (obtained from a friend's remodeling) and reinforced the frame around the deadbolt and hinges. There is only one door, but... there are actually 3 ways out of the room.

My gear and supplies occupy the shelving, and taking an idea from my Army days when we would make our own personal "hooches" (out in FOBs) made of ammo crates and other stacked supplies, I sub-divided the room with a wall made of supplies and equipment, packed into those Rubbermaid container bins and stacked neatly. So this room is divided into two main spaces.... one is a living space (a mini-apartment) where I usually sleep. It has a mini-fridge, microwave, toaster oven, plush carpeting, and is very cozy and comfortable actually. The other section of the room (which has a single slit window) is my "office" and laboratory.... with my secondary computer (WiFi connected of course), 3 televisions, Xbox 360, a comfortable rolling chair, a workbench, scientific instruments, wall charts, favourite artworks, back-up electronics, emergency power supplies (including a solar panel), my safe, my hand tools, my favourite specimens from my personal collections, oh, and a portable chem toilet. This is actually my "man cave" and I can very comfortably and happily spend my days and nights there with every comfort and necessity readily at hand.

After some hit and miss testing, I decided on the Rubbermaid storage bin because of it's ruggedness (thick plastic), the various available sizes (and colours), and because it has a nice snap on lid. It is water resistant (rain proof), but not waterproof. Also, it was cost effective, since I would pay under $5 for a large 18 gal unit and less for smaller units. Another handy feature is that they stack and bear weight well. Other containers I tried were simply too expensive, more fragile, too small or didn't lend themselves to stacking well.

Although it is no longer my main library, I do have quite a lot of books on bookselves also in this room. I only mention this because, interestingly, books are actually effective cover against bullets! And furthermore, I read back in the Cold War days that books and thick stacks of paper are actually effective against radiation... lol.

As much as I love the convenience of power tools, most of my tools are manual human-powered hand tools. I have rescue/extrication tools, full MOPP gear, military protective masks, a firefighter's SCBA and turnout gear, SCUBA gear with 2 aluminum 80s, geiger counter, decon kit, thick multi-use Vis-Cleen bags, and test kit. It's all stuff that I hope I never have to use (again) but that I've accumulated through the years from my various careers (I happen to be a Haz Mat Technician also).

With my stored water, plus water filters, plus water purifiers, plus access to a creek and pool, I feel I have ample survival water. And with my refrigerated food, my pantry food, my stored dried/canned goods, my MREs, and Mainstays, I probably have food for myself for at least 6 months, probably more if I ration it.

With my generator, deep-cell battery, solar panels, stored batteries, hand-crank dynamo devices, car alternator/transformer, I have alternate power for several weeks at peak (with fuel), and then indefinitely at low power usage (running only small electronics). I wish I had the means to install a roof solar system, including filtered ventilation to blow out hot air that rises to the attic area, keeping positive pressure inside. Contaminants, pollutants, pollen, fallout would tend to stay out because incoming air would be filtered and constant pressure would keep air blowing out of the house.

Unfortunately, I DON'T have a fireplace or wood burning stove with external exhaust port. I wish I did. But I'd be able to cook with propane range, butane cartridge stove, and finally a multi-fuel camp stove for maybe over a month. Then, it's woodfires in a fire brazier and a portable hibachi.

I no longer have a landline. I have embraced mobile communications technology, however, if price were no object, I think I would retain a landline as a back up in my "panic room". I do have both wired and wireless internet connections, as well as digital cable television.



Now ideally (perhaps when I retire to Alaska), I wish my home were built on a steel frame and self-supporting (i.e. not dependant on gravity, perhaps like a ship/submarine on land or a buried motor home/bus), and perhaps even on shock absorbers like Cheyenne Mountain. I have enjoyed the benefits of bouncy floor rooms before, like at an aerobics studio for lower impacts and thought why not make all rooms like that. I think my dream home would be partly or mostly underground, or at least bored into a hillside or cliff, like a series of tubes and domes. I'd like to use the Roman formula for long-lasting concrete, or one of the new high-tech mould-injected concrete mixes, like Moon-crete, plus lots of natural rock. Underground homes tend to stay naturally insulated without lots of extra energy expenditure for heating or cooling. Windows would be double-paned and all exterior doors would be two-staged, like an airlock. There should be at least one roof hatch and perhaps a tube or passway to an outlying building. The roof should be an active, living, integral part of the home, with living plants and mosses, solar panels, ventilation exhaust, and louvered windows to allow in natural light. Perhaps I've been reading too much Sunset magazine, but I also like houses that have a "natural" blending with the environment, where the line between inside and outside the house become somewhat blurred. Plants might grow indoor (like in integral planters or living walls), and maybe a small waterway or even a waterfall, may trickle right through the living area. In fact, climate permitting, I'd love to have an outdoor kitchen, outdoor dining room, outdoor shower, and firepit lounging area. The outlying building might be a small guest house, perhaps built around a more conventional A-frame chalet design, or better yet, a treehouse! (my other fantasy design). Somewhere on the property there must be a dedicated observatory, possibly even a radio observatory. I picture a sort of VLA made up of dozens of sat dishes positioned above tree top level across the property.

To supplement the roof solar collectors, I plan to have a wind generator on site also. I suppose the astronomy dome, satellite dishes, aerial booms, exhaust ducts and power generating fan would look pretty odd and incongruous in the forest, but I hope to disguise them in a sort of tree-like tower or towers and definitely try to paint them to blend in better, and have ample fake or real foliage around them.

Whatever the design, the grounds (the landscape design) are another important consideration. I would prefer the maximum amount of privacy and defensibility that finances and zoning would permit. Direct long sightlines to the house should be obstructed (by many natural trees, boulders, hillocks, and shrubberies). Most likely the house will occupy the higher ground and will have the superior sightlines, going all the way down to the river or lake that borders the property. A natural water source would be ideal. I'd probably still want a cistern and/or a water tank of some kind gravity fed above the house. Access to the house, the front of the house, would be on the water side, either to a private t-shaped dock where boats or floatplanes could tie up, or a canti-levered vehicle bridge. A small stone gatehouse structure would face the bridge driveway. The driveway would have at least two turns before it led to a level, paved vehicle turnaround/parking lot area off to the side of the house. It might be the only smooth level paving on the property (except for wheelchair compliant ramps), large enough for 6 car spaces and an adjacent hangar-like structure that is a 3 car garage. The parking area, besides being marked for car parking, would also be big enough for, marked for, and lit for, helicopter access. The long axis would run toward the lake, and a lane would be left open through the trees for aircraft, possibly even ultra-light planes. This multi-purpose paved area would probably also be marked for volleyball, basketball, and roller hockey with accompanying poles, nets, and goals. The garage would have ample built-in storage along the walls, and really I don't plan to have more than 1 car and 1 motorcycle occupying it, normally.

Besides the garage, gatehouse, and guesthouse, as outlying structures, I think I would ideally like one more building possibly at the rear end of the property (away from the lake, away from guesthouse, away from the mainhouse). It would be like a barn/henhouse/kennel and storage shed. Possibly using the most conventional design of all the buildings, I would like it to be somewhat high-tech and comfortable, to the extent that even a human could stay comfortably in this building. Insulated double walls, air-conditioning, heating, lights, running water, etc. I think I would like to have a variety of birds, chickens, geese, ostrich, a turkey, and most definitely a pack of dogs (huskies, malamuts, a german shepherd, and a golden retriever). I've considered other useful animals too (like a milking cow), but the care and feeding might get to be excessive. At least I understand birds and dogs. Adjacent to the "barn" would be a vegetable garden, a natural composting-mulching center, and way at the furthest end of the property near the rear fence, a private archery range with a variety of targets (3-d, moving, pop-ups, decoys), and multiple shooting positions (ground, cover, trees).

I imagine natural looking terraced covering landscaping (my own terrain theme park) all the way from the double perimeter fence up to the house, like conveniently placed boulders, fallen logs (even if they are cast concrete), rises and depressions of earth, maybe concrete culvert-tunnels with a track system, inpenetrable vegetation in strategic rows, all designed to funnel personnel into certain avenues of approach or confound them with obstacles and dead ends. Within this double perimeter fencing (visible soft fence/hazardous electronic hard fence) the dogs and geese would have free run. and would act as an early warning system and deterrent. CCTV and ground sensor alarms would be the next layer of security. And finally activatable defensive measures (traps, reactionary measures, remote firing stations) would be the final line, up to the front doors. I imagine this to be a more natural-looking, more whimsical version of a Japanese castle, taking the best elements of training courses I've seen.